In a match-up that drew a ripple of mischievous amusement as it was announced at the conclusion of Friday morning’s draw, Alcaraz will begin his quest for a third successive crown against Fabio Fognini, the gifted but unpredictable Italian whose languid shot-making belies a notoriously fiery disposition.

Fognini has hinted that this is likely to be his final year on the tour and, while it would be stretching it to suggest an upset could be on the cards, the 38-year-old will undoubtedly relish the prospect of facing a big name on Centre Court in what may be his last match at Wimbledon. The pair have met twice previously, both times on red clay in Rio de Janeiro, with Alcaraz winning on each occasion. 

The Spanish second seed is projected to face Holger Rune of Denmark in the quarter-finals, with either Alexander Zverev, the German world No 3, or Taylor Fritz, the fifth seed, barring his path to another final. 

Krejcikova, meanwhile, was drawn against Alexandra Eala of the Philippines, the 20-year-old left-hander whose breakout run to the semi-finals of the Miami Open earlier this year included victories over Jelena Ostapenko, Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek. The 74th-ranked Eala, who has made encouraging progress on grass ahead of her main draw debut at Wimbledon, will cross swords with Australian teenager Maya Joint for the Eastbourne Open title on Saturday.

It represents a tough start for Krejcikova, who has barely played since the turn of the year due to a back injury and withdrew from her scheduled Eastbourne quarter-final against Varvara Gracheva this week with a thigh problem, raising further doubts about her fitness. The 29-year-old Czech, currently ranked 17th, defeated Jasmine Paolini in last year’s Wimbledon final to claim her second grand slam title following her French Open victory of four years ago. 

Aryna Sabalenka, the world No 1, will open her challenge against Carson Branstine, a 24-year-old Canadian qualifier. The 27-year-old Belarusian could meet former champion Marketa Vondrousova, who defeated her in straights sets in the semi-finals of the Berlin Open last weekend, in round three. Sabalenka is projected to face Madison Keys, the Australian Open champion, in the last eight, with either Paolini or Qinwen Zheng, the Olympic champion and fifth seed, potentially awaiting in the semi-finals.

In the lower half of the draw, second seed Coco Gauff will begin her campaign against the 42nd-ranked Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine and could play former world No 1 Victoria Azarenka in round two. 

Gauff, 21, is expected to face Swiatek in the last eight – although the Pole, who opens against Polina Kudermetova, may first have to get past either Danielle Collins or Marta Kostyuk in the third round, followed by Elena Rybakina, the 2022 champion. The American, who won her second major title at the French Open earlier this month, is seeded to meet fellow countrywoman Jessica Pegula, who starts against Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy, in the last four.

Elsewhere in the men’s draw, top seed Jannik Sinner opens against Luca Nardi and is expected to meet another Italian opponent, Lorenzo Musetti, in the last eight. Sinner could then be in line for a reunion with Novak Djokovic, who defeated him in the semi-finals two years ago. First, though, Djokovic may need to see off Britain’s Jack Draper, the fourth seed, who gave the seven-time champion an opening-round scare on his main draw debut in 2021. 

With his thunderous southpaw serve and heavy forehand, Draper would seem to have a game ideally suited to grass. But the 23-year-old, who will be carrying the hopes of the home nation despite never previously going beyond round two in three visits to SW19, has been handed an onerous draw. Following an opening-round assignment against Sebastián Báez, the world No 38, Draper could meet former finalist Marin Cilic, followed by Alexander Bublik – who defeated him at the French Open earlier this month and won the Halle Open on grass last weekend – and the rising Czech teenager Jakub Mensik.

Emma Raducanu, who aggravated a lingering back injury during her recent quarter-final run at Queen’s Club, has been handed a similarly difficult path. The former US Open champion, who reached the fourth for the second time last year, begins against 17-year-old wildcard Mimi Xu, a former British national junior champion. Assuming she survives unscathed, Raducanu will face either the resurgent Vondrousova, who won the Berlin Open title last week, or the American 32nd seed McCartney Kessler – followed, in all likelihood, by Sabalenka.

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Yet the 38-year-old Serbian arrived at Roland Garros, where a fourth title would finally pull him clear of Margaret Court as the most successful player in history, as something of an enigma. 

On the one hand, until a few days ago Djokovic had not won a tour-level event since the 2023 ATP Finals. In recent months, he has exited tournaments in Qatar, Indian Wells, Monte Carlo and Madrid without winning a match. His ranking has slipped to sixth, while his coaching partnership with former rival Andy Murray, which the pair originally planned to continue through the French Open, recently came to an abrupt conclusion. 

But just as the impression of a great champion on the wane was hardening, Djokovic’s victory at last weekend’s Geneva Open changed the parameters. With four restorative wins behind him – not to mention the 100th title of his career – Djokovic could look forward to his Paris opener against Mackenzie McDonald with his confidence replenished. 

His participation in Rafael Nadal’s retirement ceremony on Sunday, when he appeared alongside Roger Federer and Murray, will doubtless have offered a further ego boost, a timely reminder of his place in the sport’s history, while a return to Court Philippe Chatrier, the scene of his extraordinary Olympic triumph over Carlos Alcaraz last summer, will only have intensified the feelgood factor.

The question was, which Djokovic would we see? The guy who has spent much of the year struggling to string two wins together, or the one who said all along that the French Open was the be-all-and-end-all of his clay-court campaign? For once, there was something strangely unknowable about this most familiar of champions. 

Perhaps the prevailing sense of uncertainty weighed on the 98th-ranked McDonald. The gifted 30-year-old memorably defeated an injury-stricken Nadal at the 2023 Australian Open, but never looked remotely capable of staging a similar performance here, particularly once Djokovic successfully lobbied officials to get the roof closed after just five games. 

It took a few minutes of remonstration from Djokovic – and a few more for the giant retractable canopy to snap into place – but, the moment it did, McDonald’s challenge was effectively extinguished. While the conditions remained slow and the balls heavy, once Djokovic no longer had to contend with the wind, his movement, variety of shot and technical excellence became unanswerable. 

“He makes it seem like a video game, almost, for him,” said McDonald. “He’s able to do so much. I don’t even think he was playing his best tennis or his highest level. But if I pushed him to a different point, he would bring it.”

All of which, no doubt, would have been music to the former champion’s ears at the business end of a torrid spring. But was the roof closure a case of star power carrying the day, given that play continued without interruption on the outside courts? Not a bit of it, insisted Djokovic following his 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 win. 

“I was just asking if and when they were going to make a decision to close the roof and how long we were going to play under that rain,” said the Serb. “It was quite pouring rain out there on the court, because it was affecting the court as well, the court became quite damp and [there were] a lot of bad bounces.

“At one point, the supervisor told me, ‘They’re playing everywhere on the outside courts in the same conditions.’ I said: ‘Yeah, but we are on a court with a roof, so why do you have the roof? What’s the point?’ In the end, they closed the roof, and I think it was better for everyone.”

Djokovic also shed further light on the thinking behind his decision to skip the Italian Open, which he has won six times, and where the courts most closely resemble those at Roland Garros, in favour of taking a wildcard for Geneva, a 250 event where he inevitably encountered a relatively modest level of opposition.

“It was a decision to play Madrid instead of Rome this year,” said Djokovic. “This year I wanted to play Madrid, I haven’t played in a while. I felt like I just didn’t want to play both, as I played Monte Carlo shortly after Miami.

“Geneva was not in the plans, it was not in the schedule. But I was talking with my team and decided to have that, because I didn’t have any – practically, only two – matches on clay. 

“I’m the type of player that is required to play a bit more in order to find the right game for clay. It doesn’t come as natural to me as maybe for some other guys. I rarely started really well on clay, if you analyse all of my seasons in my career. So it takes a little bit of time for me to get accustomed with the surface and movement and striking the ball. 

“I think it was a good move to go to Geneva, to be honest, because I was also struggling a little bit with my confidence level and doubting my game a bit. So it was good that I got four matches under my belt, won a title. Coming into Roland Garros, it feels different compared to the feeling I had three weeks ago. Let’s see how far I can go here, but I have a good feeling for now.”     

Already, Djokovic is beginning to look and sound more like his old self; whether he can ride those positive feelings to the business end of the fortnight remains to be seen.

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With the French Open looming, an arrangement that took the tennis world by surprise when it was announced last November shuddered to a halt following an announcement from Murray’s team.

“Thanks to Novak for the unbelievable opportunity to work together and thanks to his team for all their hard work over the past six months,” Murray said in a statement. “I wish Novak all the best for the rest of the season.”

The former world No 1s began working together on a trial basis in Marbella last December, with Murray making his first appearance in Djokovic’s box at the following month’s Australian Open. There were some teething problems in the opening round at Melbourne Park, when the Serb expressed frustration towards his team during a four-set win over Nishesh Basavareddy, an American teenager making his grand slam debut. 

From there, though, Djokovic remained on track, and went on to defeat Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals, embracing Murray afterwards and hailing ‘a huge win for all of us, including Andy and myself, for the relationship’. 

A hamstring injury would force the 10-time champion to retire in the next round against Alexander Zverev. But while he was unable to secure the 25th grand slam title he needed to claim outright the all-time record he currently shares with Margaret Court, the coaching relationship with Murray showed sufficient promise for the pair to resolve that they would continue through to the next major, on the red clay of Roland Garros. 

What neither could have known at that point was that their best work was already behind them. 

Murray did not accompany Djokovic to Doha the following month, when the Serb lost his opening match to Matteo Berrettini, but the Scot was present in Indian Wells to witness his former rival’s lacklustre defeat to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp. That setback, Djokovic’s third in succession, marked the 37-year-old’s worst run of results in seven years.

While that nadir was swiftly followed by an encouraging run to the final of the Miami Open, hinting at a resumption of normal service, the 37-year-old’s hopes of a 100th career title were scotched by a straight-sets defeat to Czech teenger Jakub Mensik.

With the clay courts of Europe beckoning, heralding the start of the long run-up to Roland Garros, things were always likely to get worse for Djokovic before they got better. Even as a three-time winner in Paris, it has traditionally taken him time to hit his stride on the red stuff. Yet even he was shocked by the desultory manner of his straight-sets loss to Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo in Monte Carlo. “I knew I’m gonna probably play pretty bad, but this bad, I didn’t expect,” Djokovic lamented.

Something had to give, and during a practice session alongside Murray before the Madrid Open, a frustrated outburst from Djokovic revealed much about his state of mind. “Fuck sport, fuck tennis, fuck everything,” he cursed in Serbian as he wiped his face with a towel. Murray may not have understood the words, but the sentiment will have been clear. Djokovic went on to lose his opening match to Matteo Arnaldi of Italy in straight sets, and announced he would not play in Rome. It would also be his last outing with Murray in his box.

While the split itself comes as no surprise, given Djokovic’s poor run of form, the timing, less than a fortnight before Paris, remains unexpected. Having come this far together, it might have made sense to see the arrangement through, particularly given that relations between the pair appear perfectly amicable. 

Beyond that, Murray could surely have been a useful ally at Wimbledon, and not only because he would have brought the almost unique perspective of a former two-time champion who knows what it is to beat the Serb on Centre Court. Djokovic might have enjoyed the status of an honorary Brit with the Scot in his corner, an advantage not to be sniffed at for a man who has had his share of run-ins with the Wimbledon crowd. 

That said, the player-coach dynamic is everything. Djokovic has made it plain that Roland Garros is his only objective in terms of the clay-court swing and, if the chemistry was not quite right with Murray, he will have seen little reason to persist with the relationship through the most important few weeks of the season. Either way, there are clearly no hard feelings   

“Thank you, coach Andy, for all the hard work, fun & support over last six months on & off the court,” Djokovic said in a statement. “Really enjoyed deepening our friendship together.”

While Djokovic has accepted a late wildcard for next week’s Geneva Open, where he will attempt to rediscover his clay-court mojo before heading to Paris, Murray will return to the golf course, whence he was whisked after answering the Serb’s call for assistance last November.

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But youth knows no fear, and in the early stages Basavareddy, a childhood admirer of Djokovic who fashioned his game accordingly, went toe-to-toe with the Serbian seventh seed. With Djokovic struggling to find his range, the teenager showed belief, composure and an impressive array of shots to take the opening set and perhaps leave Murray wondering whether he should have stayed on the golf course.

That feeling may have intensified when Djokovic, having fired down an ace to complete a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory, gestured in irritation to his box, apparently unhappy with a technical point concerning his ball toss.

But after suffering an unexpected quarter-final loss to the returning Reilly Opelka in Brisbane 10 days ago, relief will be the dominant emotion for Djokovic, who spoke warmly of Murray’s mid-match input after capitalising on Basavareddy’s physical difficulties to prevail in in two hours and 59 minutes.

“I’m obviously thrilled to have him in my corner,” said Djokovic. “It was a little bit of a strange experience to have him courtside in my box. We played for over 20 years against each other at the highest level, and it’s great to have him on the same side of the net. 

“He gave me some great advice mid-match. I think it’s really good that we have an opportunity now to have coaching allowed on the same, so we can exchange some feedback and and we can get our coaches to tell us what they see from the side of the court.

“It’s a completely different angle and perspective when you’re watching from the side, and he’s been doing really well. It’s been an enjoyable experience; hopefully we don’t stop here.”

A month into his professional career, this was a milestone experience for Basavareddy, who embraced the occasion with an alacrity that bodes well for his future. A graduate of Stanford University in his native California, he offered a cheery pre-match wave to the watching Mary Joe Fernandez, a former world No 4 whose son attends the same college, and he was quickly into his stride, competing with an intensity and intelligence that belied his inexperience.

Commanding the baseline exchanges, Basavareddy drew a string of early errors from Djokovic, kissing the lines with his forehand, deftly caressing drop shots and demonstrating assurance and athleticism in the forecourt. 

“I was probably a bit too passive from the back of the court,” said Djokovic. “He was dictating the play.” 

The question mark, for a player whose short career has already included three knee surgeries, concerned American’s physicality. After moving with fluidity and sharpness for the first 90 minutes, Basavareddy began to struggle with his movement, hobbling between points as cramp kicked in.

It was all the invitation Djokovic needed to haul himself back into the contest. Having steered an accurate return winner down the line to bring up his sixth break point of the evening, the 37-year-old outlasted Basavareddy in the next rally before emitting a prolonged roar that was part triumph, part relief. Rising to his feet, Murray raised a clenched fist. With Basavareddy grimacing and casting concerned looks towards his box, the outcome was never again in serious doubt.

Djokovic, who would eclipse Margaret Court as the most successful player in history with an 11th title in Melbourne, later offered warm praise for his vanquished opponent.

“I didn’t know much about him,” said Djokovic, who will next face Jaime Faria, a Portuguese qualifier ranked 125 in the world. “He’s a very complete player, he very pleasantly surprised me with all of his shots and with his fighting spirit towards the end, so I wish him all the very best for his career.”

While Djokovic was toiling on Laver, Carlos Alcaraz, the third seed, notched up a comfortable win over Alexander Shevchenko, prevailing 6-1, 67-5, 6-1 against the 77th-ranked the Kazakh. The 21-year-old Spaniard, who would become the youngest man to complete the career grand slam with a first title at Melbourne Park, suffered a brief lapse early in the second set, squandering a 3-1 lead before finishing the match strongly.

Jannik Sinner, the top seed and defending champion, also won in straight sets, defeating Nicolás Jarry of Chile 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 to claim his 15th straight grand slam win on hard courts, a record bettered only by Andre Agassi, Roger Federer and Djokovic.

“It’s amazing to be next to these names, but I cannot compare myself with these players, said Sinner, who will play Tristan Schoolkate, an Australian wild card ranked 173, for a place in the third round. “They have done so many things, I am just trying to make my own little story.”

Jack Draper, the 15th seed, playing his first match since October following a hip injury, earlier came through 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 against Argentina’s Mariano Navone.

But Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 11th seed and former finalist, suffered a shock first-round loss, losing in four sets to Alex Michelsen of the United States.

“I was just trying to stay super composed out there,” said Michelsen after claiming the first top-20 win of his career 7-5, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. “I knew it was going to be a battle in the end. It’s all about the mindset.”

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In an extraordinary turn of events, Murray, who has spent most of his time on the golf course since retiring at the Paris Olympics in August, will team up with the Serbian world No 7 ahead of the Australian Open, where Djokovic will attempt to win an 11th title and eclipse Margaret Court as the most successful player in history.

It marks a first move into coaching by a member of the erstwhile Big Four, of whom Djokovic is the only active member following the retirement of Rafael Nadal earlier this week. Roger Federer, the other member of the quartet, bowed out just over two years ago.

The partnership between Djokovic and Murray – childhood rivals, now aged 37, and born just a week apart – will be all the more poignant for the fact that Djokovic was the architect of all but one of Murray’s five losing appearances in the Australian Open final.

“I am excited to have one of my greatest rivals on the same side of the net, as my coach,’ said Djokovic, who finished a mixed season without a grand slam title for the first time since 2017 but realised a career-long ambition by winning an Olympic gold medal.

“Looking forward to [the] start of the season and competing in Australia alongside Andy, with whom I have shared many exceptional moments on Australian soil.”

Murray will join the Djokovic camp in the off-season and remain at his old rival’s side until at least the conclusion of the year’s first major.

“I’m going to be joining Novak’s team in the off season, helping him to prepare for the Australian Open,” said Murray. “I’m really excited for it and looking forward to spending time on the same side of the net as Novak for a change, helping him to achieve his goals.”

Beyond moving ahead of Court, whose all-time record of 24 major titles he equalled with victory at last year’s US Open, those goals are perhaps hard to quantify. At what point will Djokovic, already the most successful male player in history in terms of titles won, be satisfied?

It is perhaps with that question in mind that the Serb has alighted on Murray, whose own work ethic and appetite for victory, combined with his tactical nous and innate love of the game, seem naturally suited to a coaching role. If anyone can keep Djokovic motivated down the final stretch of his career, it is surely the Scot, whose injury struggles in his twilight years make him uniquely placed to articulate the value of getting every last drop out of whatever the former world No 1 has left in the tank.

Given the propensity of both men to vent their spleen towards their coaching box over the years, the dynamics of the relationship promise to be fascinating. Djokovic, however, appears to have no reservations about the potential of the partnership.

“We played each other since we were boys, 25 years of being rivals, of pushing each other beyond our limits,” Djokovic said in a social media video depicting their on-court rivalry. “We had some of the most epic battles in our sport. They called us game-changers, risk takers, history makers. I thought our story may be over, turns out it has one final chapter. It’s time for one of my toughest opponents to step into my corner. Welcome on board, coach Andy Murray.”

Whether the pair can break the stranglehold that Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have exerted over the sport in a season when they have divided the four majors between them remains to be seen. What is beyond doubt is that it will be fascinating to watch them try.

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Barely 24 hours after Carlos Alcaraz slumped to a shock defeat against Botic van de Zandschulp, Djokovic suffered his earliest loss at a major since 2017, when he fell to Denis Istomin in round two of the Australian Open. Given that Djokovic and Alcaraz contested a mentally and emotionally draining Olympic final earlier this month, it feels very much like a case of after the lord mayor’s show – all the more so when you consider that Lorenzo Musetti, the bronze medallist in Paris, was beaten in four sets by Brandon Nakashima earlier in the day.

On a night when he hit a career-high 14 double faults and 49 unforced errors in all, Djokovic looked bereft of inspiration and energy, much as Alcaraz had done the previous evening. Having scaled the heights at Roland Garros, where he staged a masterclass to end his long wait for the only significant omission from his trophy collection, the 37-year-old plumbed the depths at Flushing Meadows, afterwards offering a scathing assessment of his 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 defeat to Popyrin, the Australian world No 28.

“Honestly, the way I felt, and the way I played from the beginning of this tournament, third round is a success,” said Djokovic, the defending champion, after failing to make the second week in New York for the first time since 2006.

“I played some of the worst tennis I’ve ever played. Serving, by far, the worst ever. If you play on a quick surface like this without the serve, without the ability to win free points there, very low first-serve percentage, many double faults, then you can’t win. You can’t win, especially against the guys who are in form like Alexei, who’s serving big and puts a lot of pressure on your service games. It was just an awful match from me.

“Obviously [the Olympics] had an effect. I spent a lot of energy winning the gold, and I did arrive to New York just not feeling fresh mentally and physically. But because it’s the US Open, I gave it a shot and I tried my best. I didn’t have any physical issues, I just felt out of gas – and you could see that with the way I played from the very beginning. From the first match, I just didn’t find myself at all on this court.”

While the result marked a seven-year low for Djokovic, it also brings up a seminal moment for the men’s game more broadly. This is the first season since 2002 that none of the “big three” of Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have won a major and, while that moment had to come eventually, it has created a palpable sense of opportunity.

Perhaps this will be the moment when Alexander Zverev, beaten by Dominic Thiem in the final four years ago and seeded to meet Djokovic in the semi-finals this time around, finally makes his long-awaited grand slam breakthrough? Ditto Casper Ruud, pipped to the post by Alcaraz two summers ago, who will face home favourite Taylor Fritz for a place in the last eight. Hopes of an end to the American grand slam drought that dates back to Andy Roddick’s 2003 title run will centre too on Frances Tiafoe, a 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-3 winner over Ben Shelton. And that is before we even get to Jannik Sinner, the world No 1 and Australian Open champion, or Daniil Medvedev, the 2021 champion, either of whom could maintain the status quo by claiming a second hard-court slam.

“Look, Alcaraz is out, I’m out, some big upsets,” said Djokovic. “The draw is opening up. Obviously Sinner is the main favourite, but then Tiafoe is there as well as American favourite Fritz. Zverev. You have great guys playing well, and [Andrey] Rublev, [Grigor] Dimitrov in this part of the draw. Anybody can take it.”

Djokovic included Popyrin in that appraisal – “He’s just beaten me, the defending champion, so he deserves credit for that and respect,” said the Serb – and certainly the 25-year-old’s trajectory this year has offered cause for optimism.

The Australian won a maiden Masters 1000 title in Montreal earlier this month, and extended Djokovic to a fourth set at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon. The belief Popyrin has taken from those performances was evident at the key moments, perhaps most notably when he fended off break points midway through the first set and early in the fourth. A slip at either juncture might have proved fatal, but Popyrin held firm for what was, on paper at least, the most significant win of his career – even if he insisted afterwards that his win in Montreal took precedence.

“For me, winning Montreal was way bigger than today, just because it’s a title and it’s a Masters 1000 title,” said Popyrin, who has never previously reached the last 16 of a major. “That felt unbelievable. Today was something that I kind of thought I could do, you know? Winning a Masters 1000 was not something that kind of crossed my head.

“But my two experiences against him earlier this year in the Australian Open and Wimbledon gave me the confidence to go out there tonight and believe that I could win – and actually do it and believe it. So when I did it, that kind of proved me right, proved what I was thinking right. It wasn’t something that was unbelievable, like Montreal.”

Be that as it may, most will find it hard to look at a US Open draw shorn of Djokovic and Alcaraz after just five days without feeling a sense of incredulity.

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And now, he has it all. 

The 37-year-old Serbian, winner of 24 grand slam titles, 40 Masters 1000 events and just about every other honour or record worth mentioning, defeated Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-2) at Roland Garros to claim the one thing he didn’t have: an Olympic gold medal.

After almost three hours of spellbinding, gladiatorial tennis, Djokovic delivered a last magisterial forehand to conclude a tiebreak that had been full of them, then turned to his family in the stands in a semi-crouch, his arms spread, before burying his head in his hands. Soon he was up in the stands celebrating with them, although not before offering Alcaraz a consolatory embrace and then dropping to his knees on the court, salt tears mingling with red clay.

Djokovic had good cause to be emotional. Some of the best players in history have finished their careers with notable gaps on their résumés. Ken Rosewall and Ivan Lendl both won eight majors, but neither tasted success at Wimbledon. Bjorn Borg lost four US Open finals. Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe and Pete Sampras could not win the French Open. And in his own gilded era, Djokovic was the odd man out among the big four – himself, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray – in not owning an Olympic gold medal (even if Federer’s was won in doubles).

Not any more. Now Djokovic has the one, last prize he coveted – and, with it, membership of the most exclusive club in tennis. Only Nadal, Andre Agassi, Serena Williams and Steffi Graf have previously won a career golden slam of all four majors plus Olympic gold. Now Djokovic joins that elite group, the oldest man to win gold since tennis returned to the Olympics in 1988. His victory, which he described as the greatest of his career, is all the more remarkable for coming just two months after he underwent knee surgery.

“I won the bronze in my first Olympic Games [in Beijing in 2008] and ever since then failed to win the medal,” said Djokovic, reflecting on an Olympic journey that has included defeats to Nadal in 2008, Juan Martín del Potro at London 2012 and Rio 2016, and Alexander Zverev at the Covid-delayed Tokyo Games of 2021. 

“[I] played three out of four Olympic Games in semi-finals and couldn’t overcome that obstacle. And then now at age 37, with a 21-year-old that is probably the best player in the world right now, winning Roland Garros and Wimbledon back-to-back and playing incredible tennis.

“When I take everything into consideration, this probably is the biggest sporting success I’ve ever had in my career.”

As always with the Olympics, the significance of victory ranged beyond purely personal achievement. Djokovic’s love of Serbia runs deep. When he led his country to a maiden Davis Cup win in 2010, he had just one grand slam title; by the end of the following year, he had won a further three. But if success with Serbia was the catalyst for his historic rise, it has also been a millstone at the Olympics, where his litany of setbacks seemed to stem largely from just wanting it too much. Victory over Alcaraz brought sensations that even he has not previously experienced.

“Until today, I thought that carrying the Serbian flag at the 2012 opening ceremony in London is the best feeling that an athlete could have,” said Djokovic. “This kind of supersedes everything that I imagined, that I hoped that I could experience and that I could feel.”

For Alcaraz, who fought off all six break points he faced, matching Djokovic step for step until he was suffocated by the Serb in the tiebreaks, it was the toughest of defeats to take. He has risen to the occasion in each of the four grand slam finals he has contested so far in his career, and here again he was not found wanting. It was simply his misfortune to run into Djokovic on a stage where the ageing champion could no longer afford to be denied. Like Iga Swiatek following her shock semi-final loss to Qinwen Zheng, Alcaraz struggled to retain his composure in the immediate aftermath of defeat, breaking off a broadcast interview with Eurosport’s Alex Corretja to wipe away tears.

“It’s a little bit different,” Alcaraz later explained, comparing his Olympic experience with playing other major finals. “I was playing for the gold medal, I was playing for Spain, and it is not the same. I have played four grand slam finals and in the difficult moments, in the tough situations, I increased my level, I played really great tennis.

“Today, probably I felt more the pressure. Maybe other players are not playing in the same way or feeling the pressure about playing for his flag, for his country. Probably myself, I felt the pressure in those situations [to the point where] I couldn’t play my best tennis. So I could feel the difference about playing grand slams and playing the final of Olympic Games.”

It is a distinction with which Djokovic is all too familiar, and the way he went about his business made it clear he had no appetite to explore it further. In a match of unrelenting intensity and brilliant shot-making from both men, Alcaraz fashioned eight break points, five of which came as he pushed for a breakthrough in the ninth game of the opener. But Djokovic saved them all, hitting his spots time and again, following his serve to the net, constantly keeping the younger man on his toes. 

Djokovic would show similar resilience in the tiebreak that followed, chasing every ball, closing down the net with urgency and intent, and finally lunging to seal the opener with an immaculate drop volley. By the time the second tiebreak came around, Djokovic was ripping forehands with abandon, determined that the prize he has yearned after for so long would not escape him again.

“I don’t know what to say, I’m still in shock,” said Djokovic. “I put my heart, my soul, my body, my family, my everything on the line to win Olympic gold at age 37. Finally, I did it.”

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It barely mattered that Djokovic is without a title this season and underwent knee surgery less than two months ago, or that the injury-plagued Nadal came into the contest with only a dozen matches under his belt this year. This was appointment viewing, and the clamour to witness the legendary duo’s second-round meeting at the Paris Olympics – and possibly their last meeting anywhere – extended even to the sizeable press area on Court Philippe Chatrier, which became so packed that scores of queuing journalists were turned away.

But for all the hallmarks of an epic occasion, Nadal had counselled caution beforehand, stressing that the old certainties are no longer what they once were, and his warning proved well founded. The 38-year-old Spaniard has moved heaven and earth to be competitive at these Olympics, skipping Wimbledon to continue his preparations on clay, and when he reached his first final in two years in Bastad just over a week ago, showing flashes of his former self, he appeared to be on the verge of a meaningful return to form. Nadal, however, was circumspect, pointing to his difficulty in maintaining his level and intensity from first ball to last, and expressing dissatisfaction with his backhand. Such pronouncements rarely owe anything to kidology where Nadal is concerned, and clearly Djokovic was listening. 

Rarely has Nadal been so thoroughly outclassed on a clay court. Djokovic came in with a clear game plan and implemented it to near-perfection. A sequence of beautifully executed drop shots and abrupt injections of pace made plain his intentions from the outset, the Serbian top seed testing Nadal’s recovery from a recent thigh injury, but also asking bigger questions. How confident was Nadal in his body? Was he prepared to suffer and, if so, how much? Did he truly believe? 

In varying degrees, Nadal was found wanting on all fronts. His movement was sprightly, but not sprightly enough to cope with Djokovic’s power and touch. He struggled to summon the explosive athleticism of old, too often caught on his heels as the Serb feasted on his serve and drilled backhands into places where Nadal did not want to be. Unable to exert sustained pressure, Nadal became a bystander at his own execution, powerless to intervene as Djokovic pocketed 10 of the first 11 games. A rout appeared inevitable until a spirited late fightback added a veneer of respectability to the scoreline, but Djokovic was good value for his 6-1, 6-4 victory.

“It’s simple, one player was much better than the other,” said Nadal. “For an hour, it was hard to digest what was happening, with physical exhaustion and the mental side. There was suffering, because the game was blatantly going badly for me. He was stronger in every aspect, and he was not giving me anything.

“I wasn’t able to play at the level I needed to create problems for him. I didn’t have the quality of shot I needed, and I also don’t have the same legs I had 15 years ago. Without ball quality and the legs of 15 years ago, you are not going to create problems for the best in history. The analysis is easy: I have not been at my level; he has, and the result was costly.”

At a venue where Nadal has won 14 of his 22 majors, etching his legend so deeply in the terre battue that a steel statue stands in his honour within a stone’s throw of Court Philippe Chatrier, it was the most sobering of afternoons. Only as humiliation beckoned did he rouse himself, rallying from 6-1, 4-0 down to level the second set at four games apiece. Even that sequence began with a donation from Djokovic, who screwed a forehand wide to gift Nadal his first break point of the afternoon, then hit a jittery double fault. To his credit, Nadal took full advantage, and when he punctuated his comeback by winning the point of the afternoon, rising to meet a bounce smash from Djokovic with an overhead of his own, then rolling a forehand pass for a winner, anything seemed possible.

As Nadal raised a fist in triumph and the crowd, fiercely loyal to him throughout, began chanting his name more loudly than ever, Djokovic kept a cool head. Pushing for another break, he patiently maintained pressure on Nadal’s serve, shrugging off the disappointment of missing three break points to convert a fourth with an immaculate drop shot. Two aces in the final game – where Nadal, to his evident dismay, returned an inviting second serve long at 30-30 – sealed victory for Djokovic as well a measure of revenge for his semi-final defeat to Nadal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

“[I’m] very relieved, because everything looked like going my way [at] 6-1 4-0,” said Djokovic, who now leads his career-defining rivalry with Nadal by 31 wins to 29. “I got maybe a little bit too comfortable there at 4-1, played a pretty sloppy service game, and you can’t give any chances to Nadal, because he’s going to use them, he’s going to come back, especially on this court. With the crowd getting involved, obviously it was very tough. 

“Crucial game at 4-4, last game with the old balls, I just tried to break his serve and serve against the wind with new balls. I did well last couple of serves but, wow, it was a very, very close encounter, especially in the second. I’m very pleased with the way I played.”

While Djokovic will continue his pursuit of an Olympic gold medal, the only significant omission from his trophy collection, Nadal can reflect on what has already been a memorable campaign in Paris. His prominent role in the opening ceremony, where he received the Olympic torch from Zinedine Zidane and carried it down the Seine alongside Serena Williams, will linger long in the memory, while his tenacious opening-round win over Hungary’s Márton Fucsovics suggested he still has much to give, not least alongside Carlos Alcaraz in the men’s doubles. 

Whether any of that will be enough to encourage him to continue playing beyond this year remains to be seen. Before losing to Alexander Zverev in the opening round of this year’s French Open, he had lost only three times in 115 matches at Roland Garros; now he has been beaten twice in two months. But with so much glory behind him – including two Olympic gold medals, the first won in Beijing in 2008, the second in doubles with Marc López in Rio de Janeiro eight years later – Nadal insists he is at peace with whatever the future holds. 

“I have been suffering a lot of injuries the last two years,” he said. “So if I feel that I am not competitive enough to keep going, or physically I’m not ready to keep going, I will stop and I will let you know. But I don’t think every day about if I am retiring or not.

“If that’s the last match here, I’ll be in peace. I did my best and I can’t complain.”

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Djokovic, three of whose 24 grand slam titles have come on the Parisian clay, will begin his quest to make good the only significant omission from his trophy cabinet against Australia’s Matthew Ebden. It will be the 37-year-old’s fifth Olympic campaign, with his best return so far the bronze medal he won in Beijing in 2008, where he was beaten in the semi-finals by Nadal. While Nadal would go on to win a gold medal against Chile’s Fernando González – and added a second four years later in Rio de Janeiro, where he partnered Marc López, now a member of his coaching team, to the men’s doubles title – Djokovic’s Olympic odyssey has been a more painful one. 

At the 2012 Games in London, where he was handed the honour of bearing Serbia’s flag, Djokovic was beaten by Andy Murray in the last four and then denied bronze by Juan Martín del Potro, who also consigned him to a tearful first-round exit in Rio in 2016. Victory seemed all but assured in 2020, when Djokovic arrived in Tokyo with a golden grand slam in his sights after winning the first three majors of the year. Instead, he was stunned by Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals, then suffered a meltdown against Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta in the bronze medal match, hurling his racket into the stands – fortunately empty due to the global pandemic – and obliterating a frame against the net post as he slipped to a three-set defeat.

Small wonder, then, that Djokovic has made no secret of prioritising the Olympics this season. His most recent visit to Roland Garros ended unhappily after he suffered a torn meniscus in his last-16 win over Francisco Cerúndolo and was forced to withdraw from the tournament. He subsequently underwent knee surgery and, despite an improbable run to the Wimbledon final, where he was beaten in straight sets by Carlos Alcaraz, a question mark remains over his fitness. His movement was clearly below par against Alcaraz, and his intensive rehabilitation efforts will not have been helped by the switch back from grass to clay, challenges he acknowledged after the final. 

“In order to really have a chance to beat these guys in a grand slam, latter stages, or Olympics, I’m going to have to play much better than I did today and feel much better than I did today,” said Djokovic. “I’m going to work on it. 

“Hopefully [I] have a chance to fight for a medal for my country. On a completely different surface, obviously, going back to the place where I got injured some weeks ago. Let’s see.  Let’s see how physically and mentally I’m going to feel. Hopefully I can find the right tennis, because I’m going to need all I have and more to go to the final of the Olympic Games.”

If the Serbian world No 2 is to fulfil that dream, however, he may have to go through Nadal, who reached his first final in two years last week on the clay courts of Bastad. The Spaniard faces a potentially tricky opening-round assignment Márton Fucsovics of Hungary, ranked 83 in the world and widely regarded as one of the fittest players on tour. Mercifully, Nadal looked strong in practice on Friday, warming up alongside Alcaraz, his doubles partner, with his right thigh bandaged after suffering a midweek fitness scare that had his coach, Carlos Moya, warning that the 22-time grand slam winner’s singles campaign could be in doubt. Djokovic, however, will be among the many hoping his old rival makes the start line.

“Expectations for the Olympics are high, and I can’t and don’t want to change that,” said Djokovic. “It creates a personal motivation for me to approach it in the best possible way for the best possible result.

“In the last four, five days, I feel more prepared for the Olympics than I was for Wimbledon. I’m looking forward to the start of the tournament.

“It would be exciting to play against Nadal in the second round.”

Should that showdown materialise, it would be the 60th meeting between the pair. Djokovic currently has 30 wins to Nadal’s 29, although the Spaniard has prevailed in eight of their 10 matches at Roland Garros, the most recent of which came two years ago, when Nadal came through a four-set quarterfinal classic.

The bottom half of the draw is propped up by Alcaraz, who will be competing at the Games for the first time. The 21-year-old, who opens on Saturday against Hady Habib of Lebanon, is projected to meet reigning Olympic champion Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals, in what would be a rematch of last month’s French Open final, won by the Spaniard in five sets. Alcaraz is relishing the prospect of competing alongside Nadal. 

“There’s no better way to make your Games debut than by forming a doubles partnership with Rafa,” said Alcaraz. “We’ll do our best, with the greatest desire, with a lot of enthusiasm while making people enjoy it.”

Nadal and Alcaraz will open their campaign against Andrés Molteni and Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina on Saturday.

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Alcaraz was no less accommodating once they arrived, breezily granting Djokovic the choice of towel boxes and then, having won the coin toss, electing to receive with an almost apologetic air. Such are the qualities – humility, respect, good cheer – that, at the age of 21, have already earned Alcaraz a place in the collective heart. 

Modesty, though, should not be mistaken for meekness. Alcaraz may be a smiling assassin, but he is an assassin nonetheless, and over the two hours and 27 minutes that followed he ruthlessly exposed the limitations of an opponent whose mere presence in the final, barely a month after undergoing surgery on a torn meniscus in his right knee, was a victory in itself. 

Summoning his finest tennis of the fortnight, Alcaraz stormed to a 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) victory, retaining the title he wrested from Djokovic’s grasp in contrastingly epic fashion last summer to take his tally of grand slam titles to four. In every possible sense, it was an uncomfortable afternoon for Djokovic, who has won seven of his 24 grand slam titles at the All England Club but, forced to play out of his forehand corner more often than his knee could comfortably withstand, never looked likely to add an eighth.

Only Rafael Nadal has inflicted a more one-sided defeat on Djokovic in a major final and, but for a late wobble on Alcaraz’s part, this loss might have been almost as comprehensive as the 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 hammering the Serbian world No 2 suffered at Roland Garros in 2020. 

Serving at 5-4 in the third set, Alcaraz missed three championship points in row, brought to grief by a double fault, a penetrating return from Djokovic, and a swing volley that he drove narrowly wide after a distracting cry from the crowd. But like Roger Federer, the only other man in the open era to win his first four major finals, Alcaraz seems to have been born for these occasions. Broken for the only time in the match, the Spaniard steadied himself to force a tiebreak, where a timely drop shot carried him to match point before Djokovic netted a backhand to signal the end of his challenge. 

Afterwards, Alcaraz spoke respectfully of his opponent’s achievement in mounting a run to the final of a tournament that it seemed scarcely credible the 37-year-old would even play after his brush with the surgeon’s knife.

“I still believe Novak is Superman,” said Alcaraz. “What he’s done in this tournament with a surgery just a few weeks before the tournament began is amazing. As I said on court, I was talking with my team [about how] the work he’s done has been unbelievable. 

“He gave himself the chance to be able to play the tournament. [Djokovic] making the final is something out of this world for me. I beat him today but, for me, Novak is still Superman.”

At this point, Alcaraz perhaps ought to be donning a cape himself. Following his victory over Alexander Zverev in last month’s French Open final, he becomes only the sixth man in the open era – not to mention the youngest – to win at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same season. The other members of that elite club – Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg and Nadal, Federer and Djokovic – are all in double figures for grand slam wins, an indication of Alcaraz’s extraordinary trajectory. 

“It’s a great feeling, thinking about being the French Open winner and Wimbledon champion the same year, that just a few players have done it before,” said Alcaraz. “It’s unbelievable.”

The direction the afternoon would take was foreshadowed in the opening game, a 14-minute tussle on Djokovic’s serve that took in seven deuces, with Alcaraz finally prevailing on his fifth break point. Even at that stage, the Serb was wasting no opportunity to go to the net, a notable departure from his signature baseline game. It was the first suggestion that his surgically repaired knee would not allow him to compete effectively from the back of the court. It also pointed to a wider tactical dilemma for Djokovic, who struggled to contain the Spaniard’s power and variety in the rallies, yet fared little better when he sought to shorten the points in the forecourt. 

“I was inferior on the court,” said Djokovic. “That’s it. He was a better player; he played every single shot better than I did.

“He wasn’t also allowing me to have any free points on my serve, he was reading the serve, he was playing with a lot of variety. I’ve never seen him serve that way, to be honest. I mean. 136[mph] – maybe I was missing something this tournament, but I’ve never seen him serve that fast.”

Djokovic’s predicament was underscored at the start of the second set, where Alcaraz broke the sidelines with a heavy forehand, prising a groundstroke error from his scrambling opponent to bring up break points, then converted the opportunity with a dipping forehand pass that drew a volleying error. On a day when Alcaraz produced his best serving display of the tournament, it was the platform he needed to stretch what would become an unassailable lead. 

“It was a great match for me,” said Alcaraz. “Obviously Novak didn’t play at his best in the first two sets, a lot of mistakes, so I made the most of that.”

He has made the most of all his grand slam final opportunities so far, not least at Wimbledon, where his record of 18 wins from his first 20 matches is bettered only by Laver. On this evidence, there will surely be many more to come. 

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